This invention relates to a golf club construction, and particularly to the neck portion of a golf club which interconnects the head and the shaft of the golf club.
Conventionally, the head of a golf club is connected to the shaft by receiving one end of the shaft in the socket of a neck portion of the head and applying an adhesive to the joint of the neck and the shaft. Generally, the club heads are made of wood, or metals such as stainless steel and other alloys, or composite plastic materials such as fiber reinforced plastics. However, the shafts are never wooden anymore.
Metallic club heads are generally strong, hard and tough. Such heads are connected to composite plastic shaft just by applying an adhesive to the joint of the shaft and the neck of the head as shown in FIG. 1 . The strength of the joint depends on the total strength of the adhesive, the neck and the golf shaft.
A wooden or composite plastic head has poorer strength, hardness and toughness than metallic heads. In order to reinforce the joint of such a head and the shaft, synthetic cords are wound around the neck of the head as shown in FIG. 2 after the neck is connected to the shaft. In addition, the neck as well as the socket in the neck should be lengthened so that the shaft can extend more deeply into the head.
The joint formed by the methods mentioned above are generally liable to loosen when subjected to torsion forces created by striking balls. When the neck and the shaft are made of different materials, serious deformation might be caused at the joint. In many cases, the neck or the shaft breaks at their joint.